When products made from resin or rubber are worked by a laser-tooling machine, gas that includes an odoriferous substance and dust, such as fumes, is generated from the working surfaces of the products. For example, there is an apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 for treating exhaust gas. It discloses an apparatus comprising a blowing means for taking gaseous phase fluid into the casing of the apparatus from an intake, and for generating a flow of the gaseous phase fluid in the apparatus to discharge the fluid through an outlet, a filtering means for filtering the dust, wherein the filtering means is disposed at the upstream side of the blowing means in the pathway of the gaseous phase fluid in order to remove the dust, and a deodorizing means for deodorizing the odoriferous substance, wherein the deodorizing means is disposed at the downstream side of the blowing means in the pathway. It also discloses that the filtering means is provided with a louver made of metal and a filter made of metal, and that the deodorizing means is provided with a plurality of containers for a deodorizer for removing the odoriferous substance in gaseous fluid, which fluid is already filtered to remove the dust and is delivered by the blowing means.
However, in this conventional apparatus, since the filtering means and the deodorizing means are separately disposed in the apparatus, it is necessary to provide a space for straightening the flow of the gaseous phase fluid so as to prevent the nonuniform flow of the fluid, wherein the spaces are disposed between the filtering means and the deodorizing means and at the downstream side of the deodorizing means. Thus, since the entire apparatus becomes bigger, it becomes a problem in that a large space for installing it is required. Further, when the performance of the deodorizer of the deodorizing means is impaired by using the apparatus for a certain time, a large amount of odors accumulate in the filter made of the metal. Thus, it is required to exchange the filter and the deodorizer at the same time. Since the filtering means and the deodorizing means are separately disposed in the apparatus, it also becomes a problem in that two parts must be exchanged at the same time.
The dust taken in the casing contacts the filter made of the metal prior to contacting the deodorizing means. Thus, when the smoke and dust generated by working the products made from resin, for example, by using a laser-tooling machine, contain an odoriferous substance, the vapor of the odoriferous substance is deposited on the filter. Consequently, since the filter is easily clogged, it becomes a problem in that the life of the filter decreases. Further, the exhaust gas flows at a rate of 15-20 m/min. in the deodorizing means, to maintain a steady amount of exhaust gas to be treated. However, since the deodorizing means has a plane shape, and the flow rate of the exhaust gas is too high, it is hard for sufficient exhaust gas to pass through the deodorizer (for example, activated charcoal). Thus, it also becomes a problem in that the efficiency for deodorizing the exhaust gas is low.
Further, there are several areas of the apparatus for collecting the smoke and dust that need to be improved. Namely, they are such as to easily and quickly exchange the deodorizing and filtering unit, to improve the effect of the deodorization of the deodorizing and filtering unit without increasing the size of the unit, to reduce the noise of the apparatus for collecting the smoke and dust, and to improve the effect of the deodorization of the deodorizing and filtering unit for a specific odoriferous substance.                Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 2004-202392        